Effect Of Fixative Type And Fixation Time On The Morphology Of Equine Preantral Ovarian Follicles

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the tissue fixatives Bouin, Carnoy and 10% Formaldehyde in equine ovarian fragments. Ovaries (n=4) from mares of mixed breeds were obtained at a local slaughterhouse and transported at 20 oC in a thermo container. Immediately after collection, the ovaries were washed with a modified PBS solution (CultilabR, Campinas-SP, Brazil) and divided into nine fragments with approximately 5x5x1 mm, removed from the parenchyma of each ovary. The ovarian fragments were then immersed in three different fixatives, Bouin (B) Carnoy (C) or 10% Formaldehyde (F) for 6, 12 or 24 hours. Each fragment was individually immersed in a 20 mL tube containing 20 times the volume of fixative solution. After this period, the fragments were held in 70% ethanol for 24 hours. Each procedure was performed in four replicates. For histological analysis, the specimens were dehydrated in increasing concentrations of alcohol, submitted to diaphanization in xylol and embedded in paraffin. Serial sections of 5 'Êm were made with the use of a rotating microtome (LeicaR type, Wetzlar, Germany), followed by slide mounting and staining with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and hematoxylin. A total of 540 slides with 1,620 sections were evaluated, which contained 465 preantral follicles that were classified as normal or degenerated. Follicles were considered as degenerated when presented at least one of the following aspects: cytoplasm retraction, pyknotic nucleus, cytoplasmic vacuoles, displacement of granulosa cells and/or disruption of the basal membrane. A logistic regression test was used for statistical analysis, and differences were considered significant when P<0.05. The Carnoy fixative, when used for 24 hours, provided the best conditions of morphological integrity (53.3%; 32/60) compared to all others, and the use of Boiun for 24 hours was considered the worst treatment (19.1%; 9/47). The other treatments lead to the following results: C12h 50% (30/60), C6 H 40% (24/60), F24h 37.8% (17/45), F12h 35.1% (13/37), F6h 32% (16/50), B12h 30.5% (18/59) and B6h 24.4% (11/45). Therefore, we suggest that fixation of equine ovarian tissue with Carnoy for 24 hours is the most suitable protocol for morphological preservation of pre-antral follicles.37124325

Effects of adding load to the gait of children with cerebral palsy: a three-case report

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar los efectos inmediatos del entrenamiento locomotor en la estera con diferentes cargas, sobre los parámetros cinemáticos de la marcha de niños con parálisis cerebral hemipléjica espástica (PCHE), e investigar cómo la carga promueve respuestas motoras más adecuadas para favorecer la propulsión del Miembro Inferior Parético (MIP). Participaron de este caso, 3 niños de ambos sexos, con edades de 8-12 años. Los niños realizaron entrenamiento en la estera rodante con carga en los tobillos equivalente a 40, 50 y 60% del peso de la miembro (MI), en 3 días distintos y no consecutivos. Los parámetros cinemáticos fueron evaluados en las fases de pre entrenamiento (FPT), e inmediatamente después del entrenamiento (FI). Las variables espacio-temporales no cambiaron inmediatamente después del ejercicio de marcha con carga. Sin embargo, fue observado aumento de los ángulos articulares de la cadera y la rodilla durante la fase de balanceo inmediatamente después del entrenamiento, especialmente con carga de 60% del peso de la extremidad inferior. Estos resultados indican que la carga de 60% es la más apropiada para solicitar cambios inmediatos en la cinemática articular del MIP. Tales cambios pueden ser importantes para fomentar la propulsión durante la fase de balanceo de la marcha de niños con PCHE.O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os efeitos imediatos do treino locomotor na esteira com diferentes cargas, sobre os parâmetros cinemáticos da marcha de crianças com Paralisia Cerebral Hemiparética Espástica (PCHE), e investigar qual carga promove repostas motoras mais adequadas para favorecer a propulsão do Membro Inferior Parético (MIP). Participaram deste relato de caso 3 crianças de ambos os sexos, com idades de 8-12 anos. As crianças realizaram treino na esteira com carga nos tornozelos equivalentes a 40, 50 e 60% do peso do Membro Inferior (MI), em 3 dias diferentes e não consecutivos. Os parâmetros cinemáticos foram avaliados nas fases pré-treinamento (FPT) e imediatamente após o treino (FI). As variáveis espaço-temporais não sofreram alterações imediatamente após o treino de marcha com carga. Por outro lado, foi observado aumento dos ângulos articulares de quadril e joelho durante a fase de balanço imediatamente após o treino, principalmente com carga de 60% do peso do membro inferior. Estes achados indicam que a carga de 60% seja a mais apropriada para solicitar alterações imediatas na cinemática articular do MIP. Tais alterações podem ser importantes para favorecer a propulsão durante a fase de balanço da marcha de crianças com PCHE.Our purpose in this study was to analyze the immediate effects of locomotor gait training with different loads on a treadmill on the kinematic parameters of gait in children with Spastic Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy (SHCP), as well as investigating which load prompted the most adequate motor responses to promote the propulsion of the Paretic Lower Limb (PLL). This case report included 3 children of both sexes, aged 8-12 years. The children walked on the treadmill with loads on their ankles that corresponded to 40, 50 and 60% of the weight of the Lower Limb (LL), on 3 different non-consecutive days. The kinematic parameters were assessed during the pre-training phase (PTPH) and immediately after training (PHI). The spatiotemporal variables did not change immediately after gait training with the aforementioned loads. On the other hand, we observed wider joint angles in the hip and knee during the swing phase immediately after training, especially with a load of 60% of the weight of the lower limb. These findings indicate that the 60% load is the most appropriate to prompt immediate changes in the joint kinematics of the PLL. These alterations can be important in improving propulsion during the swing phase of gait in children with SHCP

Influência do treino em esteira na marcha em dupla tarefa em indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson: estudo de caso

The loss in the automaticity of gait hinders the performance of concurrent activities - Dual Task (DT) - in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). One hypothesis for the negative interference of DT on gait is related to the limitation of attention resources in the brain for different activities. When the automation of a task occurs, the negative interference of DT on the gait can be minimized. Because the treadmill promotes automaticity of a better locomotion pattern, due to the repetition that promotes motor learning, the study sought to investigate whether treadmill training can improve the performance of gait on DT in people with PD. Three individuals were evaluated in the on-phase of the antiparkinsonian medication regarding the kinematics (Qualisys Motion Capture System) while in gait, simultaneously performing cognitive activities. Subsequently, the subjects performed a 20-minute workout on the treadmill and were reassessed during gait in cognitive activities. There were increases in the length of the cycle (p=0.01), the length of the step (p=0.01) and in total swing time (p=0.03), and a decrease in the total length of support (p=0.03). These results indicate that treadmill training can promote improvement in the performance of DT on gait in individuals with PD. Longitudinal studies with this focus of research are needed.La pérdida en el automatismo de la marcha dificulta la realización de actividades simultáneas - Doble Tarea (DT) - en personas con enfermedad de Parkinson (EP). Una hipótesis para la interferencia negativa de la DT en la marcha está relacionada con la limitación de recursos cerebrales de atención para diferentes actividades. Cuando se produce la automatización de una de las tareas, la interferencia negativa de la DT sobre la marcha podrá ser minimizada. Como la cinta de correr promueve la automaticidad de un mejor patrón locomotor, debido a la repetición que favorece el aprendizaje motor, el estudio trató de investigar si el entrenamiento en cinta de correr puede mejorar el desempeño de marcha en DT en personas con EP. Tres individuos fueron evaluados en la fase on del medicamento antiparkinsoniano en cuanto a la cinemática (Qualisys Motion Capture System), mientras se realizaba la marcha simultáneamente a actividades cognitivas. Posteriormente, los individuos realizaron un entrenamiento de 20 minutos en la cinta y fueron evaluados de nuevo durante la marcha en actividades cognitivas. Hubo aumentos en longitud de la pasada (p=0,01), la longitud del paso (p=0,01) y en el tiempo total del abalanzar (p=0,03) y una disminución de en tiempo total de apoyo (p=0,03). Estos resultados indican que el entrenamiento en cinta puede promover la mejora en el rendimiento de marcha en DT en personas con EP, y que se necesitan estudios longitudinales con este enfoque de investigación.A perda na automaticidade da marcha dificulta a realização de atividades concorrentes - Dupla Tarefa (DT) - em indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson (DP). Uma hipótese para a interferência negativa da DT sobre a marcha está relacionada à limitação de recursos cerebrais atentivos para as diferentes atividades. Caso ocorra a automatização de uma das tarefas, a interferência negativa da DT sobre a marcha poderá ser minimizada. Como a esteira promove automaticidade de um melhor padrão locomotor, devido à repetição que favorece a aprendizagem motora, o estudo buscou investigar se o treino em esteira pode melhorar o desempenho de marcha em DT em pessoas com DP. Três indivíduos foram avaliados na fase on do medicamento antiparkinsoniano quanto à cinemetria (Qualisys Motion Capture System), enquanto realizavam a marcha simultaneamente a atividades cognitivas. Posteriormente, os indivíduos realizaram um treino de 20 minutos na esteira e foram reavaliados durante a marcha em atividades cognitivas. Houve aumentos no comprimento da passada (p=0,01), no comprimento do passo (p=0,01) e no tempo total de apoio (p=0,03). Esses resultados indicam que o treino em esteira pode promover melhora no desempenho de marcha em DT em indivíduos com DP, sendo necessários estudos longitudinais com esse foco de investigação

Small but crucial : the novel small heat shock protein Hsp21 mediates stress adaptation and virulence in Candida albicans

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improved categorization of subtle facial expressions modulates Late Positive Potential

Biases in facial expression recognition can be reduced successfully using feedback-based training tasks. Here we investigate with event-related potentials (ERPs) at which stages of stimulus processing emotion-related modulations are influenced by training. Categorization of subtle facial expressions (morphed from neutral to happy, sad or surprise) was trained with correct-response feedback on each trial. ERPs were recorded before and after training while participants categorized facial expressions without response feedback. Behavioral data demonstrated large improvements in categorization of subtle facial expression which transferred to new face models not used during training. ERPs were modulated by training from 450 ms poststimulus onward, characterized by a more gradual increase in P3b/Late Positive Potential (LPP) amplitude as expression intensity increased. This effect was indistinguishable for faces used for training and for new faces. It was proposed that training elicited a more fine-grained analysis of facial information for all subtle expressions, resulting in improved recognition and enhanced emotional motivational salience (reflected in P3b/LPP amplitude) of faces previously categorized as expressing no emotion.

System Engineering Paper

The Iowa State University team, Team LunaCY, is composed of the following sub-teams: the main student organization, the Lunabotics Club; a senior mechanical engineering design course, ME 415; a senior multidisciplinary design course, ENGR 466; and a senior design course from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Team LunaCY designed and fabricated ART-E III, Astra Robotic Tractor- Excavator the Third, for the team's third appearance in the NASA Lunabotic Mining competition. While designing ART-E III, the team had four main goals for this year's competition:to reduce the total weight of the robot, to increase the amount of regolith simulant mined, to reduce dust, and to make ART-E III autonomous. After many designs and research, a final robot design was chosen that obtained all four goals of Team LunaCY. A few changes Team LunaCY made this year was to go to the electrical, computer, and software engineering club fest at Iowa State University to recruit engineering students to accomplish the task of making ART-E III autonomous. Team LunaCY chose to use LabView to program the robot and various sensors were installed to measure the distance between the robot and the surroundings to allow ART-E III to maneuver autonomously. Team LunaCY also built a testing arena to test prototypes and ART-E III in. To best replicate the competition arena at the Kennedy Space Center, a regolith simulant was made from sand, QuickCrete, and fly ash to cover the floor of the arena. Team LunaCY also installed fans to allow ventilation in the arena and used proper safety attire when working in the arena . With the additional practice in the testing arena and innovative robot design, Team LunaCY expects to make a strong appearance at the 2012 NASA Lunabotic Mining Competition.

A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

TorsinA and the TorsinA-Interacting Protein Printor Have No Impact on Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress or Protein Trafficking in Yeast

Early-onset torsion dystonia is a severe, life-long disease that leads to loss of motor control and involuntary muscle contractions. While the molecular etiology of the disease is not fully understood, a mutation in an AAA+ ATPase, torsinA, has been linked to disease onset. Previous work on torsinA has shown that it localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum, where there is evidence that it plays roles in protein trafficking, and potentially also protein folding. Given the high level of evolutionary conservation among proteins involved in these processes, the ability of human such proteins to function effectively in yeast, as well as the previous successes achieved in examining other proteins involved in complex human diseases in yeast, we hypothesized that Saccharomyces cerevisiae might represent a useful model system for studying torsinA function and the effects of its mutants. Since torsinA is proposed to function in protein homeostasis, we tested cells for their ability to respond to various stressors, using a fluorescent reporter to measure the unfolded protein response, as well as their rate of protein secretion. TorsinA did not impact these processes, even after co-expression of its recently identified interacting partner, printor. In light of these findings, we propose that yeast may lack an additional cofactor necessary for torsinA function or proteins required for essential post-translational modifications of torsinA. Alternatively, torsinA may not function in endoplasmic reticulum protein homeostasis. The strains and assays we describe may provide useful tools for identifying and investigating these possibilities and are freely available.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteBachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson Foundatio

Integrating Signals from the T-Cell Receptor and the Interleukin-2 Receptor

T cells orchestrate the adaptive immune response, making them targets for immunotherapy. Although immunosuppressive therapies prevent disease progression, they also leave patients susceptible to opportunistic infections. To identify novel drug targets, we established a logical model describing T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling. However, to have a model that is able to predict new therapeutic approaches, the current drug targets must be included. Therefore, as a next step we generated the interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) signaling network and developed a tool to merge logical models. For IL-2R signaling, we show that STAT activation is independent of both Src- and PI3-kinases, while ERK activation depends upon both kinases and additionally requires novel PKCs. In addition, our merged model correctly predicted TCR-induced STAT activation. The combined network also allows information transfer from one receptor to add detail to another, thereby predicting that LAT mediates JNK activation in IL-2R signaling. In summary, the merged model not only enables us to unravel potential cross-talk, but it also suggests new experimental designs and provides a critical step towards designing strategies to reprogram T cells